Three key reasons why Man City have failed to retain the Premier League title

This season has been a real struggle for goals and Manchester City look helpless in defending their crown as Champions of England. City have scored 50 goals this season compared to Manchester United who have netted 64 goals in their 27 league games including 30 away from home. City managed 93 goals in the league last season with a goal difference of +64. This is more than double what they have achieved this season so far.

Mario Balotelli netted 13 goals in 23 premier league games on their way to the title and managed only one goal this season before returning home to Milan last month. The biggest disappointment for City this season must be Sergio Aguero, who has nine goals in 23 appearances this campaign. Although these statistics aren’t bad they are nothing to compare to his debut season in the Premier league where he netted 23 goals along with eight assists. This can be judged by the reliance on Edin Dzeko who was used more off the bench last season and currently tops the scoring charts in the league for Manchester City this campaign.

2. Leaky Defence

Manchester City have conceded 24 goals this season in just 27 games in comparison to last season where they conceded 29 in the title winning campaign. They kicked off this season against newly promoted Southampton which everyone had down as full-gone conclusion. City managed to win the game 3-2 and on another day may have not gained all three points. This was a sign of things to come for City who have conceded far too many goals this campaign. Vincent Kompany has missed seven of Manchester City’s 27 games this season compared to only missing seven league games all season last year. He hasn’t played since 19th of January and the sooner he is back in the side will be a relief for Joe Hart who managed to keep out Frank Lampard’s penalty at the weekend to ensure City took all three points.

3. Robin Van Persie

It didn’t take the Dutchmen long to establish himself as United’s first choice striker after controversially signing from Premier league rivals Arsenal. His first appearance in a United shirt was off the bench against Everton for a cameo twenty minutes. It took Van Persie just two starts to net his first hat-trick where he single-handedly dispatched Southampton. Since then he has scored several priceless goals for Fergie and currently tops the goal scoring charts in the league with 19 goals in 27 appearances. He has started 24 of these games which signifies his importance to Manchester United. Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck have 19 league goals between them and will hope Van Persie recovers quickly from the bizarre hip injury he suffered in the win against Queens Park Rangers at the weekend.